6 Hillary Clinton Quotes to Empower Women in the Workplace

Hillary Clinton might have lost the 2016 presidential election, but she hasn’t let that keep her down. With all of the adversity she faced during the campaign, she’s learned quite a few lessons.

Clinton spoke at the Professional Business Women of California Conference in San Francisco in March. She was speaking about the rise in activism that came from the GOP health care bill when she thought about her motto: resist, insist, persist, enlist. Her words remind us to not be complicit in times of oppression. This quote is one of many lessons Clinton learned after the election. And each one is filled with words we can carry in our daily lives.

1 As a woman, everything is harder due to the double standard.

Clinton said this at BookExpo America in New York City. She was referring to any woman who might run for president of the United States in the future. She’s hopeful that women will continue to run for the position despite what Clinton faced. She explained that this woman can come from any background such as politics, writing or even a business executive.

But this future candidate will also have to “find his or her own way.”

Ever since the loss, Clinton has felt a deep worry about the future state of the White House.

“I’m worried not just because there are partisan differences but we’re living in such an abnormal time when we look at the way this White House is behaving,” Clinton said adding, “some of the biggest challenges we face: the dishonesty, the fabrication … it is deeply troubling.”

Although Clinton was referring to a position at the White House, it doesn’t mean this advice can’t be used in any field. As women, we face a brutal form of hardship. We will always be held to higher standard and be forced to jump higher hurdles with shackles locked on our ankles. But if we go in with this knowledge, we can prepare for anything that comes our way.

2 Despite a major loss, it’s important to keep getting up.

Clinton laid low after the presidential election, but when she came back, she came back strong. During the Women in the World Summit in New York City in April, Clinton spoke about the misogyny that contributed to her loss.

When opening up about her loss, she said “It is fair to say … that certainly misogyny played a role. That just has to be admitted.”

She elaborated on that by saying “In this election, there was a very real struggle between what is viewed as change that is welcomed and exciting to so many Americans, and change that is worrisome and threatening to so many others. And you layer on the first woman president over that, and I think some people, women included, had real problems.”

As a woman, there were a lot of cards stacked against her.

Misogyny proves to be alive and well in our country. It’s a problem that has led to many misfortunes such as Clinton’s loss.

But, as women, we have the responsibility to continue to break ceiling glasses to pave the way for younger women.

3 It’s important to take responsibility for your losses, even if it’s not completely your fault.

Clinton spoke to CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour at the Women for Women International in New York in May about her loss. While she took responsibility for her defeat, she also noted the other factors that played a part in the outcome.

“It wasn’t a perfect campaign. There is no such thing,” Clinton said. “But I was on the way to winning, until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter on 28 October and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off.”

Eleven days before the election, FBI director James Comey announced his decision to reopen an investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server. But he later announced these emails were already reviewed before Clinton was cleared of any criminal charges.

At the same time, Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails were hacked and released on WikiLeaks, which continued to damage Clinton’s reputation.

“The evidence for that intervening event is, I think, compelling, persuasive,” Clinton said. “And so we overcame a lot in the campaign. We overcame an enormous barrage of negativity, of false equivalency, and so much else. As Nate Silver has concluded: if the election had been on October 27, I would be your president.”

When asked if misogyny also played a role in her loss, she didn’t hesitate before saying misogyny was “very much a part of the landscape politically, socially and economically.”

So while Clinton was the losing candidate, she acknowledged that there are bigger problems in our society that contributed to her defeat. But this speaks to the problem a lot of women deal on a daily basis in our fields. Clinton’s defeat due to misogyny is similar to women who have lost jobs on the sole basis that they’re women.

4 We must keep supporting women.

This quote is one of the best Hillary Clinton feminist quotes. Clinton also said this at the Women in the World Summit while talking about the effect of Trump’s presidency on women.

Part of her speech was about the current administration’s plan to govern a woman’s right to abortions and birth control. Clinton explained how the global gag rule was written to remove all aid if there is an alleged breach. This leaves young women’s lives in danger if they can’t receive an emergency abortion.

“This is not just the right and moral position for the United States to take; this in our national security interest. The more we support women, the more we support democracy, the more we beat back terrorism. Women’s issues are national security issues around the world,” Clinton continued.

After losing the election due to factors such as misogyny, she’s decided to focus more on supporting women.

“I am really focused on doing some things that I can help make a difference with, like the supporting of young people and getting more women into politics…. I am looking at doing interesting things,” Clinton said when asked if she would run for office again.

So, as women, we can take the advice that we’re not free until all women are free. By supporting our fellow women, we can continue to build each other up. One woman’s success is all women’s success.

5 Fight for your convictions.

This quote came from a video Clinton released directed to Democrats addressing the future of the Democrat party.

Although she didn’t win, she was proud of her hard work.

“While we didn’t get the outcome we worked so hard for, I’ll always be proud of the campaign we ran, a campaign that was better and stronger thanks to each of you,” Clinton said.

She also urged the party to fight back against Trump’s administration.

“We as Democrats must move forward with courage, confidence, and optimism and stay focused on the elections we must win this year and next. Let resistance plus persistence equal progress for our party and our country,” she said.

It’s easy to stop trying when issues such as misogyny and sexism get in our way. But nothing good comes easily. It’s more beneficial in the long run to keep fighting for our beliefs. Once we stop fighting, misogyny and sexism continue to win.

Clinton’s defeat may have been a loss for herself and the rest of the country, but it also brought unforgettable lessons. With this current political climate, we can take a few lessons from Clinton’s wise words in the fight for women’s and human rights.

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